Should Students Be Paid For Good Grades?

byAWEB MEDIA GROUP
June 30, 2022

Should students be paid for good grades? This is a very big question? And it reminds me of a time when I was in high school, the third year precisely. An organization came to my school with gifts to present to outstanding students in each class, I can remember those gifts were lovely and desirable. I was really looking forward to receive mine.

But unfortunately, my class was totally exempted from receiving the awards, with the reasons that students in their 3^rd and 6^th year don’t get to have gradings . This means that the teacher just records the exam score for each subject but do not do final grading to determine the positions of students in the exams. I was so sad and moved to tears because I knew I was supposed to be part of the awardees.

Students getting paid for good grades has some interesting benefits but there are also constraints. The big question of: “should students be paid for good grades” has been well-discussed in this article and also practicable tips for achieving good grades.

Pros of Students getting paid for good grades

Academic performance increases: when students get paid for good grades, they tend to work harder and as a result perform better academically than those students not paid for good grades.

Graduation rates will increase: With incentives, students have one more reason to stay in school and graduate eventually. In towns and community where there are cash incentives , such places turn out higher number of graduates yearly than those communities with no cash incentives.

Students get motivated when paid for good grades: Students get to learn that hard work has its own reward and they will be motivated to work harder the next time. Students also are motivated to stay in school and not drop-out when they get paid for good grades.

Students’ basic needs can easily be taken care of: Students would be able to buy essential school supplies without having to bother their parents.

Students begin to learn financial freedom early in life: Students would start learning how to handle money responsibly, thus getting them ready for the future Students learning how to handle money responsibly will make them grow into successful and responsible adults

Paying students for good grades is a good way of helping the less-privileged: Intelligent students from low-income family can get to stay in school with incentives received when they attain good grades. These kids can get to stay and focus in school without having to worry about paying fees or going to search for work to pay their bills.

Students can start saving up for college or other higher education: Students can use the money received for good grades to save up for college or other forms of higher education. When it is time to proceed for higher education, the student can just fall back on the saved allowance.

Constraints of students getting paid for good grades

The question of morality arises when you have to pay students for good grades: To some people, paying students for getting good grades is like giving out bribe which could have some negative impact on the student in the future. This could affect their decision-making process and you will never know what he/she may do in exchange for money in the future.

The cash rewards will always go to the best students: There are some students that no matter how hard they study, they won’t ever cross to a particular grade, this is because they have learning disabilities. Such students would never get to enjoy scholarships /bonuses that other students enjoy.

The cash rewards don’t promote the right attitude for learning: Cash rewards does not make students study and learn for the very right and basic reasons. They attend school every day and stay up late in the night to study just because they want to get some rewards.

The money received most times are not used for relevant purposes: Most times, the kids squander these cash gifts on mundane things, only few of these students are wise enough to save and buy something tangible for themselves.

The students overtime develops a sense of entitlement: Paying a child for getting good grades may over time develop a sense of entitlement in that child. He/she will always be looking for what he would stand to gain before doing anything. Such can tell his Dad to pay him for washing the car or taking out the trash.

It cheapens the grade: Paying a child for good grades reduces the value and worth of that grade.

Tips for getting good grades in high school/college

Whether you get paid or not for good grades in school, it is highly important that you graduate from school with high grades. I believe what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Since you have found yourself studying, then just give it your best shot. It is will be really a sheer waste of time if after spending 5 or more years in high school or college, you graduate with poor grades. In so doing, lot of things has been wasted; time, money, resources, energy and so on.

Now, you may argue with me that getting good grades does not really count, you can still be successful in life with poor grades. Well, I won’t argue with you. Let me just quickly show you six things you will get from attaining good grades in high school or college:

Good grades reveal that you were a good student who can succeed in a rigorous academic environment.
It also tells your prospective employers that you can withstand and succeed in any environment you find yourself.
You gain the respect of friends and families.
You get to set a good pace for the next generation (I mean your children and grandchildren).
It gives you some level of self-confidence and makes you approach life with such.
While you are studying to acquire good grades in schools, you begin to acquire some skills and traits that will help you in life even after school. Some of these skills and traits include: confidence, discipline, hard work, tenacity, perseverance.

Now, that you have seen why it is important to attain good grades in school, let me show you some useful tips that could help you achieve such grades.

Practicable tips for getting good grades in high school/college

Participate in class activities: Being active in class does not mean you should be a nuisance, causing distractions, always flagging down errors of your teacher or other students. Rather, it simply means getting involved in what is going on in the class. Don’t be absent-minded when teacher is in class, answer questions, complete given tasks, etc.

Make good notes in class: “Writing makes an exact man”. You can never go wrong when you put things down. Ensure that your class notes are up to date and well-handled too. Don’t be too lazy to write things down. You should have a jotter where you make some extra notes when your teacher is explaining some stuffs, questions on your mind can also be put there.

Do all homework and complete all tasks: The homework given by your teacher will help you to further comprehend the subject, so its highly important you do them. Do the homework at the right time and ensure you submit before the due date.

Have a work-able/realistic study schedule: You should create a functional and realistic personal timetable for yourself. Don’t fix personal study time to a time you should be in class or be helping out with chores at home. Plan yourself very well. If you are very sincere with yourself, you will discover the free times that you can use for personal study. You need to be highly disciplined to have an effective time-table. Reduce screen times, play times, even sleep times, don’t oversleep. You can always get to catch up with more screen times and sleep during the holidays.

Study with the syllabus: The syllabus contains the list of topics and what you are expected to know for each topic (objectives). Make sure you get the syllabus relevant to your course. If it is not readily available, you can ask your teacher for it.

Study: You must study personally. Be very strategic in choosing your study times. Understand your uniqueness, know the best times that you can assimilate and maximize those times. Some students get to assimilate better early in the morning, some late in the night, while some afternoon, find what works for you and stick to it. You should also get a good location for study. Never make the mistake of studying on your bed or lying down to sleep, you will only reap sleep at the end!

Have study groups: Look for serious and like-minded colleagues and form a study group. You can meet together physically or virtually at regular intervals to discuss what you read in personal study, ask questions, trash out difficult tasks. It really does help than just studying alone by yourself.

Don’t be afraid, timid or too proud to ask for help when the need arises: You should be willing and open to ask for help when the need arise. No man is an island of knowledge, you will always need what others have.

Stay motivated always: Set goals for yourself (both short term and long term). Encourage yourself. Be optimistic. Be positive-minded.

Get rid of all distractions: Put away all form of distractions. Distraction is simply anything that will not contribute to achieving your objectives in life. You need a high level of discipline to be able to put away those distractions because some of those distractions can really be enjoyable but will hinder your success.

Look out for yourself (your well-being): In a bid to striving for success in life, you. must not forget to take care of yourself. Eat good and nourishing foods, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and get rest when you should. Also take care of your physical appearance too, the fact that you are studying hard does not mean you should look haggard and unkempt.

Conclusion

Should students be paid for good grades or not is like a three-legged stool, one must find a support to balance things out. My suggestion is this; as much as possible, organizations giving out these incentives/awards for good grades should try to give relevant materials and gift items instead of money. And in cases, it has to be monetary gift, there should be a way of checkmating how the money is being used.

Thank you.